


Required by State Law in These Cases

by Frediculous



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Captain America's PSAs, Dark Comedy, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers Has PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, bad mental health advice, toxic positivity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 13:50:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17809142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frediculous/pseuds/Frediculous
Summary: As part of the Captain America PSA series, Steve has been asked to record a video to be played to young people who have attempted suicide. It goes as well as might be expected.(I hope my tagging is alright, this is my first fic and naturally I chose a very triggery topic. If you need me to add more, let me know in the comments.)





	Required by State Law in These Cases

**Author's Note:**

> This fic comes out of a pretty bad place and I hope I've managed to turn my trauma into a giggle.
> 
> [CN for the notes... suicide, self harm, blood, and mental health provision.] 
> 
> Last weekend, I was left unsupervised in a hospital waiting froom for more than three hours, slowly bleeding through my bandage, watching a 24hr news channel looped the same eight headlines, after having been told that if I tried to leave, they woud have to call the police. It came to me over those hours that the only way the mental healthcare provided in that instance could have been worse was if there had been a video of Captain America firing cliches at me in an awkward, disappointed voice.
> 
> With this in mind:

So. You tried to take your own life. Maybe you’ve been feeling despair. Believe me, I know what that’s like.

_Er, Captain Rogers? Can we stick to the script please?_

Sure. Sure. 

_Okay, Take two in 5, 4, 3…_

So. You tried to take your own life. Maybe you’ve been feeling despair. Maybe it felt as though your life hasn’t been going anywhere, or you didn’t have a reason to live. Maybe it felt as though you had a good reason. Take it from a man who deliberately crashed a plane into the ocean in order to stop Hydra destroying New York…

_Captain Rogers?_

Sorry. Sorry. Yes.

_Do you need to take a minute? Look at the script again?_

No. No, I can do this.

_When you’re ready, Captain._

Right. Right. I’m ready now.

_Captain America suicide prevention vid, Take Three in 5, 4, 3…_

So. You tried to take your own life. Maybe you’ve been feeling despair. Maybe it felt as though your life hasn’t been going anywhere, or you didn’t have a reason to live. Maybe it felt as though you had a good reason, or that the world would be a better place without you in it. But take it from a guy who helped saved the planet in his ‘90s: the world needs all sorts of people in it. 

Sure, it’s been tough lately. People can be cruel. Maybe you’ve lost someone you care about. When I lost Bucky on a Howling Commando’s mission in 1945, it felt for a while as though I had lost everything that mattered to me, but I had my mission, and sometimes its just a case of putting one foot in front of the next until your number comes up as well because…

_[whisper] The script, Captain._

But… er… [cough] But however hard things may seem at the moment, if there’s one thing a man out of time can tell you, it’s that the future is one heck of a place, and no-one knows what it might bring. Things might not be so bad as they seem, and there might be things you can do about most of your problems. Hell, even Bucky came back, didn’t he?

_Captain Rogers!_

I mean, he’d been tortured for seventy years by Hydra scientists and couldn’t remember me, but he came back. I mean, he hasn’t called or anything since the Potomac, but at least he’s alive.

_[whisper] Are we still rolling?_  
_[whisper] Just try to get him back on the script._  
_Er, Captain?_

Huh? Oh. Sure. Sure. 

_Let’s take it from “Things might not be so bad.” Take Four in 5, 4, 3…_

Er… Things might not be so bad as they seem, and there might be things you can do about most of your problems. Sometimes all you need to do to be a hero is to take charge of your own life. Get out in the world! Try something new! I mean, I’m not suggesting you volunteer for untested medical procedures, but there’s a whole world of new possibilities, new friends and new experiences out there waiting for you. 

Talking of friends, you can’t let down the people who care about you. When things get tough, you’ve got to think about them and just keep pushing through. A good soldier doesn’t desert under fire, and your friends and family don’t just vanish because things get rough. Next time you’re feeling low and depressed, try reaching out - speak to your friends, to a doctor, or to a counsellor, and you’ll be fighting fit again in no time. Because, see, that’s all they care about, just waking you up again for another round, punching down the bad guys. The world never stops needing saving, never stops needing good ol’ Captain America, even if Bucky’s gone, I mean the Bucky I remember, and Peggy’s dying, and the people I fought for wound up being the same damn Nazis I was fighting the first time round and…

_Captain?_

No-one ever seems to learn anything because here are the Avengers to save the day! God, Tony’s right about that… But I mean, don’t worry, here I am, Captain America! I can do this all day, got the bad guys on the ropes, no matter how much it’s hurting…

_Do we need to give you a minute, Captain Rogers?_

Just wheel him out, get him making some stupid video that isn’t going to say a damn thing to a kid who needs help, and son? Kid? Hey, you, watching this? You’re in a hospital or a mental ward or… or wherever you are? That’s rough. I’m sorry it’s rough. The world’s a cruel, hard place and all the heroes can’t make it better forever, but you? You’re all the you we’ve got. 

Look. I’m not some star-spangled superhero who can reach in a make it all better with a this damn hooey they’ve got me talking at you. When it comes to this sort of thing, I’m just a kid from Brooklyn. But I’m sorry you’re hurting. I’m sorry you’re hurting enough to try and hurt yourself, and I wish I could fly in there and make all the pain go away - just like I wish I could help Bucky and Peggy be themselves again. But I’m not Tony, trying to fix the world, always thinking there’s an out. Sometimes all you can do is get up, and keep fighting. Because if you’re gone, and I’m gone, then we’re leaving it to these clowns to take care of things, and I don’t see that working out for any of us. 

Stay strong, kid. We’re in this together. However dark or ugly it gets, just remember, you got this far, and I’m rooting for you. Take care of yourself.

_[Pause]_  
Er… Is Captain Rogers just out in the hall, or has he… yeah. No, he’s gone.  
Fuck.  
Can we… can we use any of that?  
[laugh] Not exactly on-brand… Hey, is that still filming? 


End file.
